Grammar Clause

Anyone who marvels at how a finite system like the English language can be manipulated in infinite ways will benefit from understanding grammar clause patterns. Developing an understanding of these patterns is essential to understanding how larger structures of the English language function. This knowledge is particularly helpful for students, who can use it to improve both their writing and reading comprehension, and for teachers, who can use it to call attention to specific problems in their students' writing.

What is a clause?

Words and phrases are the parts of language (called constituents) that make up clauses. Clauses are units of grammar that contain at least one predicate (verb) and a subject. A clause, therefore, contains a single verb group.

A simple sentence contains only one clause. Here are some examples of simple sentences that are each comprised of a single clause:

  • Darby played.
  • Jamie cooked the dinner.
  • A man in Cincinnati swam in the river.
  • Sammy will excel on the varsity team.
  • Jennifer has been dreaming during class.

A verb group can consist of a single word (such as played, cooked, and swam) or combine multiple words (as in will excel and has been dreaming). The essential component of a clause is the verb; and a clause only contains one verb.

Clause Functions

In the English language, there are eight clause functions:

  1. Subject (S)
  2. Verb (V)
  3. Direct Object (DO)
  4. Indirect Object (IO)
  5. Object Compliment (OC)
  6. Subject Compliment (SC)
  7. Adverbial Compliment (AC)
  8. Adverbial (A)

Here are some example sentences that begin to illustrate the possible clause patterns available in English:

  1. Jessica (S) is doing (V) homework (DO) for her math class (A).
  2. This Sunday (A), I (S) will take (V) the dog (DO) to the park (AC).
  3. The fire (S) was (V) completely devastating (SC).
  4. The boss (S) knows (V) marketing (DO) the best (OC).
  5. Elizabeth (S) danced (V) beautifully (A) in the garden (A).
  6. Richard (S) will give (V) the committee (IO) his proposal (DO).

While there are a variety of combinations at work in these sentences, patterns can begin to be seen upon closer analysis. These simple sentences each have the essential components of a subject and a verb. In addition to these critical components, these sentences also contain clause functions like objects, compliments, and adverbials. These are defined as peripheral clause functions.

The only clause function that can be removed from a clause without making the clause ungrammatical is the adverbial. For example, if you were to remove for her math class from sentence number one above, the remaining clause Jessica is doing homework would still make sense.

Examples of Grammar Clause Patterns

Even though there are eight clause functions in the English language, because of this optional nature of adverbials, there are only seven patterns. Notice how the clause functions of the above sentences can be arranged in a grid:

  S V IO DO SC OC AC SV Darby played           SVC The fire was     devastating     SVA Jim went         there SVO Jessica is doing   homework       SVOO Richard will give the committee his proposal       SVOC The boss knows   marketing   the best   SVOA I will take   the dog     to the park

This grid acts as a visual guide to make the arrangement of clause patterns easier to see. Seeing the finite structural possibilities that are possible is an effective way to minimize errors in our writing. In addition, it is important to understand how these clause patterns are grouped in relation to the most common verb types in the English language.

Transitive Verbs – Transitive verbs require both a subject and at least one object.Jessica is doing homework. The clause patterns SVO, SVOO, SVOC, and SVOA are used with transitive verbs.Copular Verbs - In English, the main copula verb form is to be. Subjects are linked to subject compliments or adverbials with copula verbs.The fire was devastating.The clause patterns SVC and SVA utilize copula verbs.Intransitive Verbs – Intransitive verbs have a subject but do not have an object.Darby played.The basic clause pattern for intransitive verbs is SV.An Effective Way to “See” LanguageUnderstanding the organization of grammar clause patterns is a useful way for any student or teacher of the English language to visualize how the deeper structures of language function. This knowledge is particularly useful for ESL students and ESL teachers. Comparing and contrasting these patterns as the function in English with the ESL student’s primary language (L1) is an effective way to make important syntactical distinctions and improve comprehension in both reading and writing.